Title: Back to the future: simplifying Sustainable Development Goals based on three pillars of sustainability

Authors: Evropi-Sofia Dalampira; Stefanos A. Nastis

Addresses: Agricultural Economics Research Laboratory, Department of Agricultural Economics, School of Agriculture, Faculty of Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Environment, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, University Campus, Thessaloniki 54124, Greece ' Agricultural Economics Research Laboratory, Department of Agricultural Economics, School of Agriculture, Faculty of Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Environment, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, University Campus, Thessaloniki 54124, Greece

Abstract: Until 2030, the United Nations' (UN) agenda for sustainable development (SD) comprises of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) each one of which includes the environment, economy and society dimension of SD. This paper aims to better depict SDGs' targeting to the communication and awareness of SD to the public. Network analysis techniques were used to streamline the UN diagram of SDGs by linking each one of them to the classic three-pillar Venn diagram of SD, according to the public's understanding. The UN's description of SDGs seems to be clearly multidimensional in these three pillars, as the public rated them almost the same. SDG agenda has fulfilled its good communication goal. But was revealed that a simple form of SDG diagram like the Venn diagram of three pillars of SD could help to deeper understanding and changing attitudes of SDGs. Thus, the SDG agenda is communicative for the public in wording, but a better communication diagram is a necessity for the future of SD implementation to various stakeholders.

Keywords: attitude change; multidimensional; network analysis; sustainable development; Sustainable Development Goals; SDGs; science communication.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSAMI.2020.112089

International Journal of Sustainable Agricultural Management and Informatics, 2020 Vol.6 No.3, pp.226 - 240

Received: 02 Dec 2019
Accepted: 20 Feb 2020

Published online: 04 Jan 2021 *

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